By By Our Correspondent
CHIEF Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has demanded the federal government repeal the 17th Amendment.
He said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had given a statement in the parliament that he would give a gift to the nation by abolishing 17th Amendment but the nation was yet to get the gift.
Talking to the media after inquiring after the Imran Khan here on Tuesday, Mr Shahbaz said no country wanted to launch operations against its own people and the government was doing it out of compulsion. He said the country had the best available judiciary which was ensuring justice to the common man. He said he had written a letter to the PM for importing one million tonnes of sugar.
Commenting on mid-term elections, he said Imran Khan and Mian Nawaz Sharif had their own points of view in this regard. He refuted allegations that the Punjab government had removed banners of Tehreek-e-Insaf and said that the government had initiated an enquiry into it. He also appreciated the role of the army in Waziristan operation.
Poverty, ignorance, injustice causes of terrorism: Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has said that the Punjab government is focusing on promotion of technical education for the eradication of poverty and unemployment and the Technical Education Vocational Training Authority has been made an autonomous institution for this purpose.
He said Sweden had expertise in the technical education sector and it should cooperate with Punjab in the vocational education and modern technology as well as dairy development, transport and energy sectors. He said Punjab and Sweden could launch joint ventures in different sectors by promoting public-private partnership.
Mr Shahbaz was talking to Swedish Ambassador in Pakistan Ms Ulrika Sundberg during a meeting at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here on Tuesday.
He said the Punjab government was setting up Danish Schools and computer labs in more than 4,000 schools of the province and special attention was being paid to vocational education.
He said a skilled workforce was being developed in accordance with the market and industrial demands and industrialists had also been consulted in this regard. The chief minister said poverty, ignorance, unemployment and social injustice were the main causes of terrorism and there was a need for promoting vocational education to root out the curse. He said imparting technical skills to millions of unemployed young people could enable them to achieve economic self-sufficiency. He said state-of-the-art institutions of technical education had been set up in Punjab with the cooperation of Sweden and stressed the need for further cooperation between Sweden and Punjab in the sector. He said the Swedish government should encourage mutual contacts and cooperation between institutes of vocational education of Punjab and Sweden.
The CM said 70 percent population of the country was associated with agriculture and there was a wide scope of cooperation between Sweden and Punjab in dairy farming sector, adding that unemployment could be overcome through development of dairy farming. He said Pakistan and Sweden should promote economic relations and increase the volume of trade and expressed hope that cooperation between the two countries would improve during the tenure of Swedish ambassador in Pakistan. He said that he would send a delegation to Sweden for the promotion of vocational education and to explore prospects of cooperation between vocational institutions of Sweden and Punjab.
The chief minister said Pakistan was facing serious security problems but the whole nation was united against terrorism and an operation against terrorists was being conducted in Waziristan. He said all the citizens of the country had equal rights irrespective of any discrimination of caste, colour and creed and no one was above the law.
Talking about the Gojra incident, Mr Shahbaz said a special commission, headed by a judge of high court, was constituted for conducting an inquiry into the tragedy and action had been taken without any discrimination against the persons held responsible in the inquiry report. He said measures had been taken for the promotion of religious harmony and brotherhood as well as prevention of such incidents in future.
Swedish Ambassador Ms Ulrika Sundberg said Sweden would extend assistance to Pakistan and play an active role in its economic development. She said her country would also cooperate with the Punjab government in technical education, dairy development, transport and energy sectors.
Minister for Education Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, the Planning and Development chairman, Tevta chairman, secretaries of Industries, Livestock and Transport departments as well as vice-chairman of the Punjab Investment Board were also present.